International agencies and local officials are warning that Brunei Darussalam must remain firmly focused on diversifying its economy away from a declining energy sector and on improving its human capital if it is to achieve sustainable growth in the medium term.

In a consultation document on July 9, the IMF said that GDP growth would reach 5.8% this year, after contracting 1.8% in 2013 due to the slowdown in the energy sector, noting that energy sector growth will slump to 0.6% in 2015 before recovering to 4.3% a year later. It forecast non-energy growth at 4.8% in 2015, falling back to 2.7% in 2016.

However, the IMF observed that the Sultanate, the fourth largest oil producer in Southeast Asia, remains dependent on oil and gas revenues to keep its economy afloat. It blamed "longer-than-expected m…

Greater investment and an increased pace of new project launches should see Brunei Darussalam’s transport and logistics reinforced over the next few years, building on recent improvements to the Sultanate’s infrastructure.

A series of reports earlier this decade identified deficiencies in Brunei’s transport and logistics infrastructure chain, which were seen as holding back economic development and diversification. A 2011 comparative study compiled by the Singapore-based Asia Competitiveness Institute on the economic merits of the ASEAN bloc countries found Brunei had structural weaknesses within its logistics infrastructure, in particular its ports.

In addition, the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked Brunei 57th out of 144 countries for the standard of its ports, 61st in terms of the co…